Sunday August 19
1. The Eucharist at the Core of our Faith
2. Come to the Table
3. Thank the Lord for the Eucharist
Greeting (see the First Reading)
God’s wisdom has prepared his wine
and laid the table.
He invites us:
‘‘Come and eat my bread,
drink the wine I have prepared!”
This is our Lord’s invitation to us.
May we answer his invitation
and may he always be with you. R/ And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
1. The Eucharist at the Core of our Faith
We know that the very core of our faith is that Jesus’ body was broken for us on the cross, that he shed his blood for us, but that he rose again from the dead and is alive. The deepest way for us to share in his death and resurrection is the Mass, the Eucharist we celebrate. There the body of Christ is given to us as our food; there his blood is made present as shed to forgive our sins and to fill us with Jesus’ life and strength and joy. Let us celebrate this Eucharist with gratitude, for here the Lord gives himself totally to us.
2. Come, the Table Is Ready
“Come, the table is ready!” In our homes this is the invitation that brings us together as a family to share our food and our love. “Come, the table is ready!” is Jesus’ invitation to us in the Eucharist. He takes our human bread and makes it into the sign of the giving of himself: “Take this, all of you, and eat it: This is my body, this is I myself giving myself for you.” Let us sit at the table of the Lord and break his bread, and learn from him to become each other’s food and drink of life and joy.
3. Thank the Lord for the Eucharist
How fortunate we are that we have the Eucharist! Here is Jesus assuring us: I am with you and live among you, and give you not just any gift but myself to eat on the journey of life. Eat my bread of life and drink my wine of joy. This is I who give myself for you. In this way he also makes us capable of giving ourselves to God and to one another. Let this be a celebration of thanksgiving with the Lord among us.
Penitential Act
1 and 2. The Eucharist at the Core of our Faith. The Table Is Ready
The Eucharist makes us one with the Lord Jesus.
How much are we one with him?
How often do we let sin alienate us from him?
Let us examine ourselves before the Lord.
(PAUSE)
Lord Jesus, you invite us
to eat your body and drink your blood:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you invite us
to live in you and to be one with you
so that you can be one with us:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you invite us to eat you
as our bread that overcomes death
and makes us live for ever:
Lord, have mercy R/ Lord, have mercy.
Lord, let this Eucharist forgive our sins,
fill us with your love and strength
and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
3. Thank the Lord for the Eucharist
Have we ever thanked the Lord deeply
for staying with us in the Eucharist?
Let us acclaim him as our God-with-us,
(PAUSE)
Lord Jesus, all praise and thinks to you
for giving yourself to us in the Eucharist:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, all praise and thanks to you
for assuring us that we have eternal life
if we eat your body and drink your blood:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, all praise and thanks to you
for making yourself the food we need
on the journey of life:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Forgive us, kind and compassionate God,
that we have shown little gratitude
for the life you have brought us in the Eucharist.
Let the food of life lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
1 and 2 Themes
Let us pray that the Eucharist
may fill us with the life of Christ
(PAUSE)
Our living God,
you let us taste and see how good you are
by giving us your Son Jesus Christ
as the bread and drink of life.
Give him to us today as our daily bread,
that with him we may pass from death to life.
Let his life flow in us and overflow
on our brothers and sisters,
that we may become his body to the world.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
3. Thank the Lord for the Eucharist
Let us thank the Father
for giving us Jesus in the Eucharist
(PAUSE)
Loving Father,
how could we know the depth of your love
if your Son had not become flesh of our flesh
and blood of our blood?
How could we ever have the courage
to live for one another and if necessary to die
if he had not given up his body
and shed his blood for us?
Thank you for letting him stay with us in the Eucharist
and making himself there our daily bread.
On our journey through life
let this bread be the food that empowers us
to live and die as he did,
for one another and for you,
our living God, for ever and ever. R/ Amen.
Reading 1 PRV 9:1-6
Wisdom has built her house,
she has set up her seven columns;
she has dressed her meat, mixed her wine,
yes, she has spread her table.
She has sent out her maidens; she calls
from the heights out over the city:
"Let whoever is simple turn in here;
To the one who lacks understanding, she says,
Come, eat of my food,
and drink of the wine I have mixed!
Forsake foolishness that you may live;
advance in the way of understanding."
Responsorial Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
R. (9a) Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Glorify the LORD with me,
let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Second Reading: Praising the Father through Christ
Christians learn the true wisdom of life from the Holy Spirit. In the liturgical assembly they sing out their thanks to the Father through Christ.
Reading 2 EPH 5:15-20
Brothers and sisters:
Watch carefully how you live,
not as foolish persons but as wise,
making the most of the opportunity,
because the days are evil.
Therefore, do not continue in ignorance,
but try to understand what is the will of the Lord.
And do not get drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery,
but be filled with the Spirit,
addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts,
giving thanks always and for everything
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.
Alleluia JN 6:56
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Sharing Jesus’ Life through the Eucharist
By eating the Lord’s body and drinking his blood, we share in Jesus’ life and we are sure he will raise us from the dead.
Gospel JN 6:51-58
Jesus said to the crowds:
"I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my flesh for the life of the world."
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
Jesus said to them,
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me
will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever."
Intercessions
Our Lord Jesus has nourished us with his words of life and invites us to his table. Let us bring to him all our cares and those of the people we love. Let us say: R/ Stay with us, Lord.
– For the Church, that the Eucharist may remain the source of its vitality and of its ability to witness to the presence of the Lord in his community, let us pray: R/ Stay with us, Lord.
– For Christians everywhere, that they may hunger and thirst for justice in the world and give access to every person to spiritual values and the material goods they need, let us pray: R/ Stay with us, Lord.
– For those in many parts of the world who don't have enough to eat, that people may unite to help them to earn their own food in dignity, let us pray: R/ Stay with us, Lord.
– For us and for all Christians who come together around the Lord’s table, that Christ may unite us heart and soul and make us open tables to one another, let us pray: R/ Stay with us, Lord.
Lord Jesus Christ, you give yourself to us as the bread of life. Help us to give ourselves like you, without charge and without regret. Stay with us, now and for ever. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God, as a Father who cares
you invites us to the table of your Son.
He will change our bread into his flesh,
our wine into the drink of life.
Make us one with him,
appease our hunger with his bread
and refresh us with his drink,
that we may live his life
of courage and commitment
and that we may live in your love
now and for ever. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
In the Eucharistic prayer we sing out our praise and thanks to our Father as we join our Lord Jesus Christ, for he has made Jesus our bread of life.
Invitation to the Lord’s Prayer
One with Jesus our Lord
we pray in his own words
to our Father in heaven: R/ Our Father...
Deliver Us
Deliver us, Lord, from every evil,
set us free from our cowardice and selfishness.
Nourish us with the bread of life,
gather us together and keep us united,
that the world may recognize
that your Son is alive in us
as we go forward in joyful hope
toward the coming in glory
of our Savior, Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...
Breaking of Bread (A. Schilling)
The bread that we break
is the bread of resurrection
to a new life and to new happiness.
It is bread to be shared,
for it is the bread of the Lord.
Invitation to Communion
This is the Lord who says:
‘‘My flesh is real food
and my blood is real drink.
Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood
live in me and I live in them.”
Happy are we to accept his invitation
to eat his bread of life. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer after Communion
Thank you, God our Father,
for nourishing us on the way to you
with the true bread and drink of life,
your Son Jesus Christ.
In this and in every Eucharist,
let him take flesh again in us,
that we may do for one another
what he has done for us,
that we may be present to one another
as he is present and available to us,
and that with him we may live your life
now and for ever. R/ Amen.
Blessing
We experience day after day
that it is not easy to live the Lord’s gospel.
It is not easy to live a life that is worthwhile,
to be unselfish, compassionate,
to love and help one another
even when it is uncomfortable,
to lead a life of integrity,
to build a better world together.
It is true wisdom that prompts us
to come to the Lord’s table
to seek his strength.
May the Lord accompany us
on the road of life and love
and may God bless you all:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Let us go with the Lord on the road
to God and to one another.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Commentary
The Eucharist is, among other things, a celebration of community. What brings people close together and gives them joy in being part of one another’s lives? Wealth? Hardly. Wealth tends to separate people, makes them independent of one another, even within a family. In very wealthy families, everyone has his or her own room, and there are several T.V. sets in the house, so that each individual can watch the program he or she prefers. But the poor have to throw in their lot with one another. I was once with a group of teenagers, one of whom was complaining bitterly that her parents were forever nagging her about being home before 11 pm, when suddenly another girl burst into tears. Her family, she said, were very wealthy; they all lived independent lives, and nobody cared at what time she came home! This had a dramatic effect on the first girl! Sometimes poverty is wealth! At the Eucharist a miracle happens. God is present in our simple presence to one another – a kind of presence that only the poor in spirit can know.